Over half a million homes are losing around 4Mb of broadband speed due to poor in-home set ups, TalkTalk has claimed.

The broadband provider claims that, over the course of a year, UK homes leak over 100 million megabytes of bandwidth capacity.

A number of problems have been identified by TalkTalk's BrightSparks engineers, with the most common being poor wiring (38 per cent), router issues (34 per cent) and broadband filter problems (13 per cent).

To help combat these service issues, TalkTalk has launched a new Online Service Centre designed to offer guidance and support to subscribers.

The centre will allow customers to run live checks on their broadband, phone and TV services and help fix common problems.

An in-built self-diagnosis tool means customers can troubleshoot and resolve their connectivity issues.

"We see thousands of homes wasting broadband width simply because of a poor in home set up," said TalkTalk BrightSparks Engineer Keith Myles.

"People need to think about their broadband in the same way as other utilities such as water and electricity - it's a commodity that can go to waste if you're not careful."

Tristia Harrison, Commercial Director at TalkTalk, claimed the launch of the new service centre is "part of TalkTalk's on-going commitment to improving customers' experience".

"TalkTalk was recently top rated for broadband, TV and phone packages in the Which? Customer Satisfaction Survey, which shows how customers are already benefitting from our efforts," she added.

The TalkTalk Online Service Centre is part of TalkTalk’s £100 million network upgrade programme, launched in summer 2013.

The broadband provider says it is investing to ensure consumers receive faster, safer and more reliable broadband.

As part of the initiative, TalkTalk broadband customers are receiving engineer visits and free router upgrades in a bid to create stronger internet connections.

uSwitch Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) under firm reference number 312850. You can check this on the Financial Services Register by visiting the FCA website.